– It’s very interesting that Fast made the team over Hrivik. Hrivik is NHL-ready in my mind, but Alain Vigneault’s decision to keep Fast indicates to me that he covets Fast’s speed and probably expects that Fast will succeed in a more offensive role, while Hrivik is better suited for a bottom-six position, where the Rangers are already stocked.

– Thankfully, the Blueshirts made the right decision to send Allen to the Wolfpack for regular playing time rather than have him sit in the press box. Based on performance alone, Allen should have been the club’s seventh D-man. But it makes no sense for the first-year pro to sit, rather than gain valuable playing time. Just because Falk is the team’s seventh D-man in name right now doesn’t mean he’ll actually be the guy to fill-in if one of the Blueshirts’ top-six rearguard goes down.

– It may infuriate some, but sending down Kreider was the right decision. He was outplayed by several of the Rangers’ other rookies and still clearly isn’t ready. Is Kreider a bust? No, it’s still way too early to say that. But he’s certainly falling behind and needs to turn his game around in a hurry.

– It looks like New York will have no choice but to shift one of its centers to wing. The prime candidates are Richards and Boyle. Here are two opening night line scenarios that make some sense:

Pouliot/Brassard/Zuccarello

Richards/Stepan/Nash

Fast/Boyle/Miller

Pyatt/Moore/Dorsett or Asham

or:

Pouliot/Brassard/Zuccarello

Fast/Stepan/Nash

Boyle/Richards/Miller

Pyatt/Moore/Dorsett or Asham

I think it’s a no-brainer to keep the Pouliot/Brassard/Zuccarello line together – that’s the one trio that demonstrated instant chemistry this preseason. Zuccarello and Brassard had success together last year and Pouliot seems like the perfect complement. The four rotating fourth liners seem etched in stone, so it’s just a matter of figuring out who would fit best with Stepan and Nash (Fast would bring the speed element to that line that Hagelin did last year, while Richards could be the choice if A.V. wants to stack his top trio offensively). Miller could also end up with Stepan and Nash.

– Callahan should be ready to go soon, but it seems likely that Hagelin will end up on LTIR.

– Powe was tremendous during the preseason – it stands to reason that he could be claimed off waivers. New York could use him as an ace penalty killer at some point, but the Blueshirts have plenty of other bottom-line options.

– Doesn’t it seem like ages ago that we were wondering if Johan Hedberg would be Lundqvist’s backup?

Agreed. I’m shocked Fast > Hrivik. Thought Hrivik was the strongest kid in camp. His speed combined w his size and awareness on both sides of the ice was best but like you said, he may have been slotted in the bottom 2 lines. I’m sure hell be first to be called up.

So after all this the big news is that Fast made the team. Great for him. Mashinter could be claimed. Not sure that Bickel will be. Why does the organization risk this and keep Pyatt? There has got to be a plan in place to get this team to be tougher. There is now toughness in this lineup if Asham doesn’t play and i dont think McILrath will see the parent team for a long time..if ever.

I shuffled the names on Capgeek and the Rangers came out $300K over the cap. Unless their numbers are wrong, it sounds like the Rangers have to put Hagelin on LTIR, which means he’s gone for ten games. That probably means they already knew he wasn’t coming back much earlier than that anyway and a couple games rehab in Hartford can’t hurt.

I saw Kreider play live in Vegas….kid can skate but as my hunch was why Fast was kept over Kreider it is because he is a right handed shot. It was glaring how much the Rangers need a Righty on the powerplay

Our Powerplay still is anemic so my opinion is teams will take liberties with us hence why we need some heavy weights on the team